2018 Volleyball Nations League (VNL)

Yeah. For the whole season, when he came in or even started some matches. He couldnt do anything good. Surely, he is insecure about his position in the NT. Youngsters are doing fine. Hoag and Marshall out.

I agree about Hoag...but now Antiga must let him play every game so he can get his rhythm back instead of wasting time with Marshall.... and I would have Barnes over Derocco as well, he was not great in Russia but Russian teams are very physical, he certainly would have done better if he played in Italy for example.... I think Antiga will just be wasting his time by bringing these vets back. Last year he went with the younger guys and it paid off.

Gunther spend this past season on the bench as well but I think he`s doing well so far....it sucks Sharon Evans is injured.

Barnes was really good last season in World League. Derocco did not show anything special in NT, at least in the games that i have watched.

Barnes' reception is quite good compare to Hoag. Maybe Antiga sees that he has the same role as Perrin and Marshall. So they go with the vets first.

Quoted from "pope"

I agree about Hoag...but now Antiga must let him play every game so he can get his rhythm back instead of wasting time with Marshall.... and I would have Barnes over Derocco as well, he was not great in Russia but Russian teams are very physical, he certainly would have done better if he played in Italy for example.... I think Antiga will just be wasting his time by bringing these vets back. Last year he went with the younger guys and it paid off.

Gunther spend this past season on the bench as well but I think he`s doing well so far....it sucks Sharon Evans is injured. Barnes was really good last season in World League. Derocco did not show anything special in NT, at least in the games that i have watched.

Yeah. For the whole season, when he came in or even started some matches. He couldnt do anything good. Surely, he is insecure about his position in the NT. Youngsters are doing fine. Hoag and Marshall out.

Yeah it is only for you....because Randazzo can do more than just spike....i think you just don`t like the Italian pretty boys , u don`t like Zaytsev also... and u saying they need Lanza only cuz u don`t like Randazzo

Isn't Lanza pretty? He can't receive ,zero defense (Zaytsev is doing the defense job for him) and it is an automatic point against his block .Blocking is very poor for this level and today Brasil didn't target him in reception until fourth set. When they did, they won the set coming from behind. When the level rises ,Lanza will be a vital player for this Italy. I also think Mazzone deserves the starting role more than Cester

I've a doubt about Mazzone/Cester as well, but Cester serve is so annoying that not using it seems almost a crime to me Anyway, today Mazzone did entered the court for Cester, at some point.

I agree that Lanza is important for the team, but I have an hard time deciding if it's better to bring Antonov OR Randazzo + Parodi (as second row back up, but when you have Lanza and Juantorena...), or Antonov AND Randazzo and no Parodi.And Parodi his my cupcake, be aware of it, so I don't say it lightly

Lanza is important but is he more important than Antonov or Randazzo? Randazzo should still be there in my opinion... I don't see any reason to leave Randazzo. He needs the most development among italians because Nelli as opposite could backfire on Italy without an announcement. Italy should have plans B.

Antonov as back-up of Lanza actually saddens me. I think he deserves to become a titular for his good year.

I watched a few games with my FloVolleyball subscription (US). Overall experience is so-so. I tried watching USA vs Bulgaria live, but the streaming was not available till the second set. The streaming quality is HD, but it's not too smooth from time to time. Once in a while, the video quality drops to SD which is so blurred that I couldn't even read the scorebox from the screen. For some matches like Russia vs Poland, almost for the entire match, the stream suffered from "discontinuity" (like I was watch separate picture frames instead of a continuous video stream), especially when a rally is in motion. As a paid subscription, this service is not satisfactory.

How is everyone's experience? For those subscribing directly from FIVB, is the streaming quality better?

I could point one out loud and say he should get rid off Uchikov, he's not doing anything on defense, he is slow and he can't get any good timing off his jump when the setter is forced set to him when you need a scorer. They need an athletic opposite to come up big against USA. Team has younger and fresher legs and they are outliving them in defense.USA is not even doing anything special but they are beating them.

For those subscribing directly from FIVB, is the streaming quality better?

It worked pretty fine for me, but for the live streaming I mostly used it on my phone, so may be on a PC it would be different.

The on demand matches are ok on PC, even if sometime not perfectly HD (but that may be my WiFi, even with Netflix I experience the same, and Netflix drops to a worst quality actually...)

Overall I'm happy I subscribed, because for now RaiSport is giving most of the matches not live but late in the night, and unlike the past years I can't find the matches on their archives. Without it I would have a very hard time to follow Italy, and in this way I can see also other countries.

The only critique I would advance on the live streaming, is that you can't choice from which moment watching the match (for example, If the match starts at 16.00, I can't open it from the beginning at 16.30). But if you pause it, it will continue from the moment you left it, if you stay on the same page. So that can help if you can't watch it all live. That's mean you can't check your messages during time outs, though

I also find the website ok, even if I would like to have there a 'results board' and a 'written' schedule (they have a schedule, but with the videos, so you have to roll them to find the one you're interested in).

Bulgaria is not taking calculated risks during the rallies that are in their favour. Either you hit the chance balls with enough power or just pass the ball to the setter for a better attack. You just cannot give Argentina their chances to attack because they'll take it with open arms.

Excellent game for Gotsev. 5 kill blocks and a lot of block touches for himself. Defense have been the problem of Bulgaria and those little deflections helped changed the game after their disastrous start. Serving also improved which could've helped in the block as well.

Seganov also have good connection with Gotsev and Yosifov particularly the former that allowed him to more variety in the offense.

Uchikov with a good performance as well. Defense is still a problem when he plays especially in then backrow but his offense and blocking towering the argentines have compensated for that.

I still think Bulgaria needs to find a new opposite. Maybe R. Penchev could fill the spot that V. Bratoev is also playing great. I don't believe Uchikov could be good for games against the favorites. He's too slow and Bulgaria needs a faster opposite to help in defense when they need it.